Opa-locka's former water plant complex, a hulking group of rust-colored buildings at 1012 Burlington St., may become functional again if the City Commission commits to a two-year renovation costing $16 million.

Translation: It would cost the city more than the total amount of money it takes in its general fund in a year.

Despite the project's relatively mammoth price tag, a Florida International University study said reopening the plant could bring in millions and spruce up one of Opa-locka's biggest eyesores.

The City Commission has been working with FIU's Metropolitan Center to come up with long-term improvements. One of Mayor Joseph Kelley's chief projects was for the university to gauge if getting the water plant up and running again was a just a dream.

The city is currently paying about $1 million to the county to provide water and sewer services. Residents often complain their water bills are too high.

''If we took care of the water ourselves, maybe we'd be able to provide the community with some relief,'' Kelley said.

At a special workshop Tuesday, FIU Engineering Professor Walter Tang told the commission Kelley's dream was quite practical. In fact, Tang said, it's highly recommended.

As of now, Tang said, the plant's poor condition makes it a huge liability.

No water has been pumped through its pipes since 1985. The buildings were closed because the plant's 50-year certification expired.

Since the 1980s, the plant has become a haven for the homeless and a drug dealer's playground. Its wire fence is cut open with an eight-foot tall hole. It leads to an unkept site where grass can be 14 inches high. Old newspapers, soiled sweat shirts and three-legged chairs litter the floor. Homeless people shoo intruders.

Illegal dumping, squatting and the potential for drug use all hurt the quality-of-life of nearby residents, said Tang, who wrote the study on the feasibility of reopening the water plant. It can also contaminate the ground water.

Restoring the complex will be expensive, Tang said. Pipes need to be cleaned and redesigned to code. The city would have to seek grants or loans.

Tang urged the commission to be strategic about the reopening. While maintaining the plant for water treatment might bring the most immediate cost relief and free the city from its dependence on the county, Tang said it might be harder to get grant money for that project.

It might be easier to get funds if the commission decides to use the plant to clean and filter waste water, Tang said. The county is under pressure to increase its water recycling from five to 20 percent.

If the city's population grows by 2 percent each year, the study found, the city would get about $2 million each year. The project could also make Opa-locka one of the county's environmental leaders by being a city that recycles its water.
At the meeting, both Commissioner Timothy Holmes and Vice Mayor Dorothy ''Dottie'' Johnson said they supported reopening the plant. Johnson said she expected the population to grow more than 2 percent because of new developments being built.

Kelley said he was going to look for potential funding sources to finance the plant's renovation and will present a resolution to reopen the facility.

Miami Herald